Discuss anything in this first section of Beloved that interested you. Here are some prompts to get you started thinking:
- What are your initial reactions to the book? Are you finding it hard to follow, or is that not a problem for you? Are there things that are particularly intriguing to you? Things that are confusing or that you don’t like? Why do you think Morrison structured the book the way she did?
- Why do you think Morrison begins with the house?: “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.”
- Talk about one of the important images in Part I, such as the chokecherry tree on Sethe’s back, Amy Denver’s red velvet, Paul D’s tobacco tin, or another key image that you noticed.
- Talk about the significance of what Amy Denver tells Sethe on p. 35: “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.”
- Do a close reading of the scene in which Beloved arrives (beginning on p. 50). What’s going on here?
- Does the novel seem to you to fit in the tradition of the Female Gothic? Why or why not?
I am one of the students who has never read Beloved before, and after reading this first part I am so intrigued by this novel so far. At first it was definitely difficult to get through the layers and structure of the novel, I found myself having to re-read some parts, but when you just continue reading it starts to unfold. I also find that to be one of the most interesting parts about Toni Morrison’s writing in this book. I love how it continues to flip back and forth from past to present for each character’s life, while each flashback brings more depth to the characters development, and more understanding into the plot. Although this book is talking about some horrifying events, Toni Morrison tells it in an incredible way. I love that Denver is very connected to the ghost of her dead sister; I find that to be a compelling part of the story. I also find Sethe’s storytelling about her time and escape Sweet Home fascinating and heart wrenching. Also, the character of Paul D. is interesting to me, because he seems to hold on to a lot of dark stuff from the past that is really intense, and he projects it into his relationships. All the trauma these characters tap into is deep and dark, but it makes for a gripping narrative. I’m excited to read more!
This is my first time reading Beloved and so far I’m really liking it. The first 50 or so pages were a little hard for me to get through and get the hang of. After I got used to the structure It was a lot easier. I did only get through to page 126 so I am a little bit behind but I am absolutely loving it. It’s really hard to not get lost in the book for me. I read the first little bit at the Battery and didn’t realize how long I had been reading for until It started getting cold and I was no longer sitting in the sun. I found myself getting more and more into it. I really like how Toni Morrison keeps revisiting the same stories but with more and more insight each time. It really has kept me on the edge of my seat.
I really enjoyed the start of Beloved. I agree with my peers that the beginning could be a but confusing, due to the missing pieces, but overall I think that it draws the reader in. I think that Denver is a unique character, and I am excited to learn more about her as I continue to read further. her connection with the spirt of the lost child is the one that im curious to see unfold. I also think the Sethe’s reason for not leaving the home, which is that “she does want to run away again”, doesn’t seem like a valid enough reason and I think there might be something else behind that. I love reading stories with beautiful descriptions, and I already can tell that Toni Morrison does a beautiful job with her descriptions. Although often times the picture she paints is something heartbreaking, I think that is what makes the story what it is.
This is my first time reading Beloved; although the plot was hard to follow, I really love how Toni Morrison structured her novel. The novel’s structure is similar to my favorite show American Horror story, which shifts from past to present, unraveling little details about what’s happening, leaving the reader in the dark. I find that books and other forms of entertainment that use this structure keep the reader or viewer engaged. The narrator sparks confusion and mystery from the beginning with the line, “124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” At first glance, the line posed many questions. Later I realized that 124 refers to the house number, and it’s spiteful because of all those who have died or run away from it. Through this line, it is interesting to see how few words hold a lot of meaning, and I think this is a common theme in the novel. Although the novel thus far is complicated, it seems to be an important testament to the horrors of slavery.
Initially, I was a little confused reading this book, but I eventually caught on. I really just think the whole concept of the story is really interesting. Like the ghost of a deceased baby is super creative, dark, and different.. I think the time jumping in the story is an interesting choice because it does make things a little more confusing, but I think it’s all for the sake of suspense and plot. The way Morrison has structured the novel is what makes the energy correct for the story I think. I also think that Amy Denver telling Sethe “Anything dead coming back to life hurts” was significant because it does have a deeper meaning than what Amy meant. Whether the dead thing in question is the ghost of Sethe’s deceased child or dead memories that may be haunting her present day. I think there’s certainly aspects of this novel that make it fit into the traditional female gothic, but I think that it’s definitely one of those that’s more on the outskirts of it like Frankenstein.
I am really loving this novel so far. The eeriness and lack of answered questions reminds me of how a mystery novel is written. Getting introduced to Sethe interested me. There is a brief introduction to her as a “used-to-be-slave”, loving mother. There seems to be a theme of broken motherhood. How Baby Suggs lost many of her eight children, out of the eight, dealing with six fathers. This made what Paul D said on page 54 make sense, “The best thing he knew was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you’d have a little love left over for the next one.” This made me feel empathetic towards these mothers. Saddened by their grievances. When Beloved was introduced, I was immediately hooked by Morrison’s ghostly descriptions of her. The whole family distinguished her as an ill woman, the reader assuming her to be a fantom emerged from water, with perfect and glowing skin. Beloved said that she walked a long while to reach the 124 home. This made me think of how ghosts are said to have “unfinished business”, which usually traces back to a place they might have lived in a long time ago. I’m excited to see how her character unfolds. Maybe Denver will be the first to understand that she is much much older than she thinks. That she is a ghost coming back for reasons we’re anticipating as readers.
I wasn’t able to finish the part one of the novel, so I’m a little behind, but I feel like I’m keeping up with the actual pacing of the story alright so far. That being said, I’ll definitely have to go back and re-read it once I’m done to catch everything, because I know there are so many layers to this book that my initial surface level understanding just won’t be able to do it justice. For my blog post, I want to talk about the views of women in the book so far. It definitely seems as thought women are something to be conquered in the story; we see it from Sethe’s first introduction to Sweet Home and all of the mean vying for her attention and dreaming of assaulting her. I believe Sethe’s breasts are a symbol of this and the perception of women’s worth lying only in their sexuality, because it is implied Sethe is r*ped by the teacher’s boys that attacked her, and her breasts, specifically the taking of her milk, is what’s emphasized about this attack. Therefore they were claiming her–stealing her identity, sexuality, and even her (patriarchal) worth beyond her sex appeal: her motherhood–and conquering it. There’s also the part where Paul D holds on to her breasts and she feels relief, because for once she is not having to carry the burden of the male gaze, a weight that hangs heavy on her identity.
I am enjoying Beloved a lot. At the beginning, it was a little confusing, but only because there was missing information. The further I read, the less confused I was. I don’t think the way Toni Morrison writes is confusing at all. However, nearly all of her words hold meaning and everything seems very deliberate. I think this is the type of book to read and then think over or read twice. This book is the most heartbreaking out of the ones we have read. The story is interesting and entrancing and im excited to see it to the end. I think this book is more what I think of when I think of dark southern gothic novels. The supernatural in this book seems real while most of the others we read it was something explainable. This book has so much to offer, and I find myself highlighting and noting so much because everything means something.
I am really enjoying Beloved so far, but I’ve been a little 50/50 when it comes to understanding the novel. I wanted to read this novel before joining the class, so I had some prior knowledge as to what was going on in the story which I think helped a lot because I don’t think the narrator sets up the story in a very smooth way. We learn the basic information we need to know as readers, but we also just kind of jump straight into the story. What the most confusing aspect about the novel is to me, is the parts that jump back into the past. Whenever it goes to parts that take place in the past, there is no indication that it’s in the past (like italicized words or a literal line that tells us we’re about to hear an old conversation) which is very confusing! Something I have really loved about the novel so far is it’s imagery. Even though a lot of it’s imagery is used to describe very sad and heartbreaking things (ex. Chokecherry tree on Sethe’s back), it adds so much to the tone of the story.
This is my second time reading Beloved, which I’m thankful for because I feel like I was more prepared for the graphic nature of the novel, but I’m also thankful that I get to have more context going into the novel, because when I read Beloved for the first time, I found it difficult to follow everything that was going on. However, I recognize that by throwing readers right into the midst of something so uncomfortable and difficult to even understand without context or background, it feels as if Morrison is forcing readers to identify with and empathize more deeply with the characters and their trauma. I also think that Morrison’s use of flashbacks, which are so heavily and often jarringly woven into present scenes, contribute to the general confusion that readers feel when they read it for the first time. More importantly though, I think this structure of the story is really significant because the constant flashing-back to the past to give context to the present supports one of the central themes in the novel, which is how the past never truly stays in the past, but is rather always present, especially when one is unable to confront it directly.
Most of the novels we have read in this class so far have all seemed to take place in other countries but, beloved takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio, and eventually in the mind in Kentucky. Another unusual and interesting thing is that the main character is named Sethe and is an African American female slave with children and is pregnant and none of the other books have any of those storylines. Another interesting thing is that Sethe had many options for a husband and a father to her children, which she had 3 almost 4 with him (I think). Sethe had two sons with Halle named Howard and Buglar and I think she had 4 or 5 options for a husband but choose Halle unlike any of the young ladies in the books we have already read. Another unique difference is that Sethe is an older lady, unlike the other characters in the books we have already read.
Reading the first part of this book was really confusing to me, the nonlinear timeline of events that occurs. It almost makes me want to make an entire timeline of events that occurs. I think she writes this way in order to give suspense, this way the reader doesn’t know what has happened in the past and is making assumptions on characters through the present and back flashes that are mentioned along the way. Something I find really interesting is the hauntedness to the entire storyline. There is deep vengeance and spite that is in the house, and it clearly has a negative energy to it, affecting the characters that live inside it. I think that this book does fit the typical female gothic novel because there is a heroine – Sethe, and it takes place in a location that is very domestic – the house. There are also haunted parts of the story such as the ghost in the house. Overall I think it is fairly interesting and I am excited to read more.
this book has been particularly harder to follow than the rest, but it is also the most interesting. I personally really liked the first couple chapters and find this story unique. The way the story is written is confusing in some parts, but the structure does serve a powerful purpose. We are introduced to different memories which are important for understanding the present events. Knowing what happened to the baby and at Sweet home can help the reader understand why Sethe acts the way she does and explain some of the events at the house. The haunting can symbolize how these memories we are shown truly don’t go away no matter how far they run, which is why Sethe chooses to stop running. Understanding the backround of paul d is important when it comes to Denver and how she reacts when he shows up at the house. Although sometimes I have to reread certain parts of this story, I really like the way it is structured, along with the depth of each character.
I want to pause my reading to reflect on my initial reactions to the novel. I have to say I am not yet finding it hard to follow. With a close reading, I feel as if I can very well understand at least what the first chapter has to offer. I have, so far, noticed a great deal of weird words, used by Morrison, in order to further deepen the context of the story. To start off the novel, “124 was spiteful” (page 1). Spiteful is an action defined as being shown or caused by malice. An author’s choice of words will consistently give insight to a deeper understanding of the text that you can’t depict at surface level. What’s interesting in Morrison’s choice to categorize Sethe’s residence as having spite is in the understanding of the word malice. Malice is defined as the intention or desire to do evil. As we continue into the first chapter, we’re already given signs of evil in the form of energy. In fact, the word spite even shows up a second time at the bottom of page 1, “… and crept away from the lively spite the house felt for them.” The house felt spite for the residence. Giving the house spiteful emotions either directed at them or in order to feel for the residence, suggests the history, better yet, trauma the house has seen and experienced. I can already sense an interesting relationship between the house and the residence, emotional, physically and spiritually.
I remember the first time I read Beloved it was somewhat difficult to follow. The story line isn’t linear and it was confusing how it alternated from past to present, but as I kept reading it got more clear. I think Morrison structured the book this way because it is nearly impossible to follow the present story line without knowing the past events that lead them there. And there is really no way to start the story in the past without context from the present being there tie the story together. I do think how Morrison structured the book makes it even more intriguing because it is like we get let into certain glimpses of the past then are brought right back to the present and another part of the story begins to make sense because of the past details we now know. Also, Beloved enters the story right as Denver is starting to accept the arrival of Paul D, and it is just like a rush of ominous negative energy enters the story. I think this book is beautifully written and horrifically illuminating, and it is for sure the best book that I ever got to read in high school.